1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to alcohol-containing solids and, in particular, is directed to powders containing substantial amounts of alcohol. More specifically, the invention pertains to edible, ethanol-containing carbohydrate powders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior efforts to make alcohol-containing edible powdered materials have been limited to the use of carbohydrates materials in very dry condition in order to have a significant amount of alcohol, specifically ethanol, sorbed by the dehydrated solids. For the most part, the prior art has employed carbohydrates which are either undesirably sweet or those which dissolve with considerable difficulty in cold water to produce cloudy appearing beverages. Also, because of the relatively low levels of alcohol fixation, in order to obtain effective levels of alcohol in the beverages prepared by reconstituting the prior art powders, it has been necessary to include excessive amounts of carbohydrate fixative. The presence of excess carbohydrate fixative produces beverages having too high viscosity, poor appearance and texture.
Sato, (Great Britian Pat. No. 1,138,124) discloses the use of anhydrous lactose as a medium for adsorping and/or absorbing ethanol. Sato identifies lactose anhydride as the material for combination with the ethyl alcohol to provide a stable alcohol-containing powder and implies that anhydrous alcohol must be employed in the preparation of the product since the presence of water would convert the lactose to the unacceptable hydrated crystalline form.
Bode, (U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,224) describes the preparation of an alcoholic dry beverage powder by dehydrating a vapor-sorbable particulated, starch based polysaccharide material to a moisture content of less than 0.75% and exposing the dehydrated material to anhydrous ethanol.
In both instances, it is to be noted, the prior art processes rely upon the substantially complete removal of physically or chemically combined water from the solid prior to and during the sorption of ethanol by the dehydrated solid substances. In contrast to the prior art, it has now been discovered that certain carbohydrate materials, when suitably modified with respect to physical form, will, in the presence of significant amounts of water, sorb large quantities of alcohol to form stable, flowable carbohydrate powders containing up to 60% by weight ethanol. Significantly, certain of these alcohol-containing powders will readily dissolve in cold water to form low-viscosity, clear, colorless, alcoholic solutions.